What is a turducken? It is an odd name that is for certain. The name turducken comes from combining letters from Turkey, Duck, and Chicken. Can you see it now? And no, a turducken isn’t the product of some mad gene splicing scientist. What a turducken basically come down to is turkey that has been stuffed with a duck, which in turn has been stuffed with a chicken. Between each layer of bird, there is also a layer of stuffing.
Image by zimpenfish
The result of this bird layered, stuffing filled dish is a solid, layered piece of poultry that is ready to be cooked. This seemingly odd creation is starting to gain popularity as your main Thanksgiving Day dish. Even though there is no actual documented proof, turducken is said to be Cajun in origin stemming from Hebert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice, Louisiana. Other people claim that Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme was the first to come up with the turducken creation. No matter what the origins of the turducken this is a dish that you need to try.
Making a turducken is no easy task, it can take you most of a day. With the exception of the leg and wing bones of the turkey, all three birds need to be completely de-boned. Once de-boning is complete, each bird is spread open and layered with stuffing and seasonings. The chicken is then stuffed into the duck, and the duck then stuffed into the turkey. The turducken must then be trussed up so it does not fall apart during cooking.
The turducken can be baked, barbecued, or grilled. Regardless of how you cook your turducken, it needs to cook low and slow. You will need to cook your turducken for 8 – 9 hours at 225°F, until an internal temperature of 165°F is reached. Cooking times will very depending upon methods and setup.
Turduckens take a lot of work, but the rewards are worth it. If you are unwilling to go through all of the prep work involved with preparing a turducken, they can be purchased at many specialty stores or online locations.
Don’t miss a thing, subscribe to Mastering the Flame now!